You Don't Have to do This Alone
by Peachlin
Summary: Stiles calls Derek late at night because his dad is drinking again and it's making Stiles upset.


Summary:

Stiles calls Derek because his dad is drinking again and it's making Stiles upset.

Notes:

I saw this old prompt and decided to write a one-shot!

Teen Wolf

Stiles woke to the sound of breaking glass. He shot out of bed and ran down the stairs, worried that his dad had hurt himself. He came around the corner and saw Noah sitting at the table with his head in his hands. "Dad?" he asked hesitantly. He didn't see the half-empty whiskey bottle; he did notice his father's bloodshot eyes when they zeroed in on him though. The teen took a step back but froze when Noah stood.

"Why did I have to be stuck with you? She left me, and all that's left of her is you! I can't stop seeing her every time I look at you! You are so much like your mother, and I can't take it anymore!" He walked forward as he yelled at Stiles, and before he knew it, the teen was trapped between his father and the wall. "I can't stand to look at you!" the man screamed before he punched his son in the stomach.

Stiles gasped and collapsed to the floor as he tried to get his lungs to start working again. He watched as his father turned his back and paced the kitchen. As soon as he could breathe again, the brunette shot to his feet and ran up the stairs. He slammed and locked his door before shoving a chair under the handle. He went to the corner of his room and slid down the wall. A broken sob escaped his lips, and he pulled his knees to his chest, curling into a tight ball. The dam broke, and sobs shook his body as he let out his fear, pain, and frustration. He knew that his father would have never said the things he did if he was sober. He would have never hit his son. The words hurt more than the blows; they didn't leave physical reminders; instead, they ate away at his insides until Stiles started to believe they were true. They couldn't be, though, right? _Does it really hurt him that much to just look at me?_

A few minutes later, he heard more crashing. His hands were trembling as he fumbled for his phone. No one knew that his father was a violent drunk, not even Scott. He never told anyone because the man Noah turned into when he was drunk, wasn't who he really was. It was getting bad again, though, this was the third time in two weeks.

He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts, trying to find someone to call, someone that he could talk to without giving too much away. His thumb hovered over Derek's number, and before he could stop himself, he hit send. It rang for a while, and Stiles wondered if it would go to voicemail. Just as he was giving up hope, Derek answered.

"Stiles? Do you have any idea what time it is?" the man growled sleepily.

The teen looked at the glowing numbers on his alarm clock and cringed. 3:07. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called. I'll just go. I-"

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing; I'm f-fine. I shouldn't have-" The brunette yelped in surprise when he heard another crash.

"What's going on? What was that?"

"It w-was just my dad, everything's fine. I'm sorry I woke you." Stiles said quickly before hanging up. _Stupid! Why did I call him? Now he's going to hate me even more than before! If that's even possible._

The teen trembled as he listened to his father stomp around downstairs. _I know I promised to take care of him, but I don't know if I can keep doing this mom. I'm sorry, I'm just so scared._

Stiles startled awake when he heard tapping. _I can't believe I actually fell asleep._ He looked around before he saw Derek outside his window. He stood on shaky legs and went to let the man in. "What are you doing here?"

"You hung up without telling me what was wrong. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Yeah, I'm...I'm fine, great even, so you can leave, everything is honky dory here. Nothing to worry about." The teen rambled as he plastered on a fake smile.

Derek gave the brunette a skeptical scowl before gently pushing him out of the way and stepping into the room. "I don't believe you; you smell like fear and misery."

For once, Stiles wasn't sure what to say. He ran his hands through his hair before he sat on the end of his bed. "You're right, I'm not okay, but there isn't really anything you can do about it. I'm sorry I woke you for nothing."

"STILES!"

The teen's breath hitched. He looked over at Derek and wished that he hadn't shown up. _I didn't want anyone to know._ He jumped when Noah started pounding on the door.

"Open this door right now! I'm not done with you!" his father slurred.

After a few seconds, they heard him stumble down the hall to his room.

Stiles flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over at Derek, and the look of concern brought tears to his eyes. "Stiles did he...did he hurt you?" The man dropped his hand to the exposed flesh of the teen's wrist, and the dull throbbing in his stomach disappeared. "What happened?"

"He's a mean drunk." The brunette whispered. He surprised himself with his honesty. Derek pulled him into a hug and rubbed circles on his back.

"This isn't the first time."

It wasn't a question, but the teen answered anyway, "No. The first time was the day after my mom's funeral. He wasn't there when she died, and he was really stressed and grieving. It was the first time I'd ever seen him drunk. He told me to stop looking at him with her eyes. I didn't know what he meant, I mean, I was nine. He slapped me; it was the first time he ever hit me. It doesn't happen often, and it's only when he's really drunk. He never remembers what he says or does in the morning."

Derek pulled back to look the brunette in the eyes. "Why didn't you ever tell anyone?"

"I… Because it's not really him. He's the best dad, and he hardly ever drinks. Usually, I can tell when he is, and I just steer clear. This is the third time he's been this drunk in two weeks. The other two times, I just locked my door, and he left me alone, but I heard a crash, and I was worried that he had hurt himself."

"You don't have to go through this alone-"

"You can't tell anyone!" Stiles said quickly.

Derek paused and looked into the teen's eyes. "If you don't want me to, I won't. Just know that you can call me anytime for anything. In fact, if this happens again, I want you to call me. I don't care what time it is."

"You don't have to do that for me."

"Just promise me that you will," the man insisted.

Stiles studied him for a minute. "Why? Why now? Why do you care all of a sudden?"

Derek looked away as he thought about how to respond. "I've always cared. At first, you were just Scott's best friend, but now I think…I'd like to be your friend too. Even though you are annoying and never stop talking, and you are always fidgeting; you make me want to rip my hair out sometimes. I didn't really realize it until you called, you sounded scared. Then you hung up without telling me what was wrong and I couldn't stop thinking about it. So I came over to make sure you were okay."

"Wow. I make you want to rip your hair out, huh?" Stiles asked with a chuckle.

"That's all you got out of everything I just said?"

The teen's smile fell, and he looked Derek in the eye. "No. I think I want to be friends too. I mean, you're literally the only one that knows about my dad."

"What about Scott?" the man asked.

"I never told him, I was afraid that if I said it out loud that it wouldn't go away. Besides, It only happened a few times in the first couple of months after she died before he stopped drinking. I promised mom that I would take care of him, and if I told someone and they took me away from him, how was I supposed to keep my promise?"

"I'm sure she would have understood. She loved you, and I bet she wouldn't have wanted this."

"Well, it's a little late to go back now. I'll be 18 soon, I'll move out, and he won't have anyone to yell at if he does get drunk. I'll still take care of him, just...from a distance."

"Just promise you'll call if he gets drunk again."

"Okay, I promise."

"Thank you," Derek sighed in relief. "You should get some sleep; I'll make sure he doesn't try to get in."

"Derek, you really don't need to do that."

"It's fine; I want to."

"O-okay. There's a sleeping bag in my closet if you want it."

Derek nodded before retrieving the sleeping bag and settling on the floor at the end of the bed. After a few minutes of silence, Stiles shifted around and sat up. "Derek?"

"Yeah, Stiles?" he said softly.

"Thank you."

The man smiled before responding, "Anytime."

The teen smiled before lying back down, and within minutes, he was sound asleep.

Teen Wolf

What did you think? Constructive criticism is welcome!

I have another Teen Wolf story in the works. It will have multiple chapters. I've got the first one done, but I'm having a hard time figuring out where I'm going with it so it might be a while before I decide to share it.

I'm also working on a couple of Avengers/Spider-Man fics if you're interested in those!


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